I was gone over the holidays for a couple of weeks, one week working in San Francisco and then with family.  Afterwards, we drove into Nevada and south down highway 395 back to LA.  As with most of the country, it was unusually cold and nasty.

This weather made for some nice twilight and night shooting.  Following is a few images I shot–just for fun, with my Sony digital camera.

This was shot on the front steps in San Francisco of the place we stayed with friends.  It was all there, nothing was moved.  The light from the window made a triangular patch, highlighting the pumpkin.  The green railing balanced the color.

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This is simply a view of their next door neighbor’s house.  The yellow “bug light” glowing in the entryway contrasted with the cool blue-gray building and foliage.

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This is the laundromat on the corner.  The warmed toned fabrics in the window contrasted with the cool evening light.  It took three exposures to get the balance I wanted.

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There was a light rain falling when I shot this.  It did not really move me, until a car came by and double parked for a couple of minutes.  Below is that shot.

This image adds interest with a sparkle off the wet stonework.

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Here is the same laundromat as above, different night.  The facade was painted electric blue and the late overcast twilight,really intensified the color.  The upper building is gray.  This was shot on Christmas Eve, and sad to say three people were doing laundry…

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We left the San Francisco area for the Sierra foothills after Christmas and stopped at a motel.  Despite the light rain and mid-30s temperature, I still went for a walk around the motel grounds and found many good angles and interesting light.  A minute after this shot was made, the light in the room went out, changing the image completely.

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The mixed lighting, depth and different textures prompted me to shoot this view behind the motel.

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We spent the next few days in the Eastern Sierras.  This unusual shot was done inside the general store in Bridgeport CA.  I usually avoid photographing neon, but occasionally shoot light reflected FROM neon signs.  In this case, the blacked out backing of the neon tubes cut the light down, yet still giving some nice colors.  It was about 12 degrees outside, with blowing snow.

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We went to the only tavern in town to have a beer and check out the local color, when the neon beer sign in the window caught my attention.  I shot this bleak street scene before we went in.  The red glow added to the glow of the sodium vapor street lamps warmed an otherwise cold shot.  Most of Bridgeport is closed for the winter, and I was actually able to shoot in the middle of the street at night–with very little traffic.

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I walked around Bridgeport for a while and shot the oldest working county courthouse in CA.  That is why the sidewalk is swept clean of snow.  This was shot around 5pm, and there were people still coming out of the building.  After about a half hour of shooting, my bare hands could not take the 10 degree weather any more.  We then walked back to the motel, where I did the following shot:

I wanted to find a way to shoot the side lighted icicles, and shot this from about 7 foot level to bring the icicles tighter into the image.  The neon from the motel sign is lighting up the gray motel office a hot pink.  The elevated shot also let me see more of the pink building and hide some trash cans.  Yes, that is my latest car, my new/second hand Subaru Outback, that sure was helpful in the ice and snow of the wintery Eastern Sierras.

Some of you might notice the new blog header.  This panorama is from a 90 second exposure on 4×5 transparency film of the San Francisco skyline from Treasure Island in the last touches of twilight.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, as I did.